Photographer: Luke MacGregor / Bloomberg
Photographer: Luke MacGregor / Bloomberg
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shared his latest vision for the future of Saudi Arabia beyond oil: a city without cars, roads or carbon emissions.
The 170-kilometer (106-mile-long) development called “The Line” will be part of the $ 500 billion project called “Neom,” the Crown Prince said in a televised speech Sunday. Construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter.
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A press release described The Line as a “belt of hyperconnected future communities, with no cars or roads and built around nature.” He said the city would have one million residents and create 380,000 jobs by 2030. The infrastructure will cost between $ 100 and $ 200 billion, the Crown Prince said.
Neom is the crown jewel of Prince Mohammed’s plan to diversify the economy of the world’s leading crude exporter. Announced in 2017, the project covers more than 10,000 square kilometers in a remote area of the northwest of the country. It is described on its website as “a bold, bold dream” that will become a hub for new technologies and businesses.
The project has been affected by skepticism and political controversy since its launch. Analysts wonder if it is realistic and can attract the necessary investment.
“The backbone of the investment in The Line will come from the $ 500 million support to Neom by the Saudi government, PIF and local and global investors for ten years,” the prince told Al-Ula reporters in reference to the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
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Sunday’s announcement shows the extent to which Prince Mohammed is thinking about life after oil for the kingdom, which earned more than half of government revenue from crude oil in 2020. The project was the first major development announced and Neom.
“Why do we agree to sacrifice nature for development?” said the prince, citing sea level rise and carbon emissions in a rare way for a Saudi official. The city, he said, would be a “revolution for humanity” with “zero cars, zero streets, zero emissions.”
No trip within the line will exceed 20 minutes, he said. The city would be built around “high-speed traffic solutions and autonomous mobility,” according to the statement.
(Updates with comments on the fifth paragraph, add the cost of the project in second.)